How to give your garden chair an ombre paint effect

Add a touch of whimsy to your garden furniture with this ombre paint effect.

Traditionally, Adirondack chairs were painted green or dark brown, but with a rainbow of paint colours and paint techniques at our disposal you can get creative. We’ve added our own spin on the chair by painting it with an Ombre effect, which is currently very trendy. Ombre combines two colours of paint to create a colour grading from dark to light or vice versa.

Materials you will need:

SA pine boards
Adirondack chair
1 ℓ Wood Primer
1 ℓ Universal Undercoat
1 ℓ Dulux Pearlglo Azure Fusion 4 – Pearlglo
1 ℓ Dulux Pearlglo Brilliant White – Pearlglo
Sponge roller
Medium paintbrush
Small paintbrush
Paint mixing tray
Masking tape

Step 1

If you’ve made the chair yourself, paint the raw wood with wood primer, followed by a coat of universal undercoat. Allow each coat to dry thoroughly before adding the next. Then you’ll need two coats of your base colour (white in this case). If you’ve bought the ready-made chair from Builders, it’s already painted white, so you can start with step two straight away.

Step 2

Tape up the edges of your chair around the slats with masking tape to ensure you paint a straight line. It takes a little time but it’s worth it.

Step 3

Create a colour-mixing guide so you don’t end up having two colours looking the same. Simply start by mixing a little white with a dot of blue paint and make a brush stroke on a piece of paper. Continue adding white to create the same number of colours as wooden slats. As you progress, match the colour intensity to your guide.

Step 4

Paint the first slat on the backrest of the chair in pure blue and also the first slat on the seat from the back. Use a roller sponge for the backrest as it goes quickly and applies the paint smoothly to the surface. For the seat you will need to use a brush as the slats are much narrower.

Step 5

Use a very fine brush to fill in the little circles from the screws to create a solid colour strip.

Step 6

Mix in a dab of white paint with the pure blue to create your first lighter shade. Remember to check the colour against your mixing guide.

Step 7

Apply the paint to your second slat at the back of the chair and then on the second slat on the seat area.

Step 8

Continue the process until all your slats are painted. Then leave the chair to dry in a well-ventilated area. To ensure you get a professional finish, repeat the process with a second coat once the first is completely dry. Remove the masking tape and feast your eyes on the beautiful colour display.